Matty Cash: Sky the limit for Aston Villa under 'perfect' Unai Emery

Matty Cash reckons the sky can be the limit for Villa under ‘perfect’ new boss Unai Emery.

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery before the Premier League match at the American Express Community Stadium, Brighton. Picture date: Sunday November 13, 2022. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER Brighton. Photo credit should read: John Walton/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.

The Spaniard has made an instant impact since arriving at the club at the start of the month, engineering wins in each of his two Premier League matches in charge.

Sunday’s 2-1 win at Brighton was Villa’s first away from home this season and right-back Cash explained how players had quickly bought into Emery’s methods, which includes lengthy two-hour tactical meetings.

Villa, hovering just outside the relegation zone when Emery replaced Steven Gerrard in the hotseat, sit 12th in the table heading into the World Cup break and Cash claimed the focus was very much on looking up.

“I think we have the perfect manager and the sky is the limit,” he said. “Hopefully we can keep progressing in the right direction.”

Billionaire owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens have invested more than £400million in Villa’s playing squad since winning promotion back to the Premier League in 2019.

Cash added: “I really don’t think the club has a ceiling.

“The building blocks are very important. A few years ago we got promoted and then stayed up on the final day. You have to build slowly. You can’t just go from bottom to top.”

Villa had taken just two points from their first seven matches on the road this season and Cash explained how winning away had been a challenge immediately laid down by Emery upon his arrival.

The victory at Brighton was the first time they had come from behind to win on the road in the Premier League for nearly 18 months, with Danny Ings’ double cancelling out Alexis Mac Allister’s first-minute opener.

“It shows we have resilience and character,” said Cash. “To come from a goal down against a really good side shows how good we are.

“We need to be harder to beat. If you want to do well in this league you have to be that. It is one of the big things he (Emery) has put into the group. We have had tactical meetings, a good couple of hours of those a week. He has been showing us how he wants us to play.

“When you go to places like Brighton you know it is not going to be pretty because when they press you it is hard to play through. We have to do the other half well and we did that on Sunday. This is just the start.”